Do Not Disturb

I get unsolicited calls all the time. I even attend to calls of the guy who had this number before I got it. When I was driving to office yesterday, ulta-pulta Nitin got this thing into my head. 20,000 bux for reporting unsolicited calls!

I got one from ICICI-Lombard, trying to sell me an insurance I already have. I mean how foolish is that. I already have a policy from them only! Anyway, I got the call one, told them I wasn't interested, and I got a call again, and logged into the "Do not disturb" activation. To my surprize, I registered for the service 6 months ago. Wait a second!! That means I'm entitled to a fine!

So I went right ahead and registered a complaint. And this is going to be my new hobby. Lets see if I can make a living out of it!

Labels: Economics, Life, Society

Is Delhi taking its toll?

I have been commuting frequently between Noida and South Delhi off late, and taking the DND Flyway is really convenient. Apart from the little stop at the toll plaza, the drive is smooth and enjoyable, the distance is shorter and it saves a lot of time. I always thought that the DND people were doing a nice service to the nation, even though they charge a little exorbitantly. They actually made a Net Profit of 659 Lakhs in the quarter ending December 07, which is up more than 100% year on year. Great. They even publish a code of ethics and stuff on their website. Nice.

My opinion about the company however took a U-Turn following 2 observations. I was driving towards Delhi, and nearing the Toll-Plaza when I saw an Ambulance approach in the same direction, with its siren blazing and emergency light on. Now, I have noticed that in the last few years, people have become conscientious enough to give way to Ambulances, even at the cost of slowing down or stopping on the side. Most of the cars did just that, they tucked the cars into the extreme side of the lane, and gave enough space for the ambulance to proceed to the Toll Plaza first. Then, at the toll plaza, the guy handling the booth decided to have a lengthy conversation with the ambulance driver, and this lasted atleast a minute. It takes a normal car about 10 seconds to pay and pass.

I was obviously not pleased with the conduct of the guy incharge, and I chose to vent my anger at the guy handling the booth in my lane. This is the conversation that ensued:

Me (Angry) : "Bhaiya Ambulance se bhi paise lete ho kya?" Do you even charge ambulances?
Booth Guy : "Sir Patient hota hai to nahi lete.." Sir we don't charge them when there is a Patient inside.
Me : "to itni der kyun lag rahi hai" Then why is it taking so long.
Booth Guy: "Sir gaadi ka number note karna hota hai" Sir, we have to note down the registration number of the car.

I pay and leave, as disgusted as can be.

The next day, while going to office, I see this:


a new redlight has been put up for turning right towards the new toll plaza meant to service the Mayur Vihar area. NTBCL made sure that the traffic was smoothly controlled when the overbridge was being made over the toll road, and none of their customers was inconvenienced. They even waited long enough for everything to be perfectly complete (in their area of course) before opening passage in this direction (The opposite direction had been opened earlier as it did not require the ovebridge). Net effect: A new red light on Noida Link road, in the narrowest (2 lane) part. I had been expecting a traffic jam at the light the day it opened, and that is just what happened. Unfortunately, drivers in Delhi have a habit of forming 2 lanes to turn right. This leaves just one lane on the extreme left for cars to move towards Noida. Moreover, 007's will take the leftmost lane and cut across to wait infront of the 2 right-turn lanes, and stick their ass out to block all traffic. POOF.

Now, there should have been a slip road in place before opening the traffic. Turns out that there is a plan to make that slip road, and I'm not sure who is making it. There is a large concrete wall in place that will most probably hold the landfill in place. But who is doing it. If NTBCL is doing it, why were they allowed to open traffic before completing the slip road. If MCD/PWD is making it, why were they napping all this time?

End result, the DND Flyway is causing some nasty traffic snarls outside their territory. I hold them responsible!

And are toll roads the answer? Anyone who has travelled to Gurgaon on the new toll road recently (after the opening of the toll plaza) will probably give you a nice long lecture about how useless it is! Do images speak louder than words? I'll leave you with this image..





It takes upto 1 hour to cross this toll plaza. Delhi to Gurgaon in 10 mins?? I guess the absurd toll of 16 rupees is to blame. How can you expect people to shell out 16 bucks and move on quickly. Why is it not 17.25 then?

Labels: Economics, Life, Politics, Society, Travel

Ouch!

Denying the obvious to not hurt someones feelings, hurts a lot more :(

Labels: Communication, Economics, Humor, Life

Petrol Price Vs. tax increase

I started writing this blog post when the crude oil prices were going through the roof and the Government said it had no option but to increase the fuel prices. At that time I thought that an increase in the fuel prices cause irreversible inflation. I was of the opinion that there should be a direct tax increase/surcharge to cushion the fuel prices, because it is easy to roll back and does not cause the kind of push inflation, that fuel prices do, not as much atleast. Fuel prices directly impact everything. Surcharge at point of sale or surcharge on VAT can always be rolled back, to a larger extent I think. If your subzi wala knows that you are used to paying a little extra for the potatoes, he will be delighted to increase his margins when supply prices drop, if at all..

Today I came across this article here. This is close to what I had in mind when I said that the inflation may be irreversible.

Comments solicited from the Economists.. Was it a good idea to hike up fuel prices knowing that the surge in crude oil prices may have been temporary..

Labels: Economics

Dinner time conversation.

D : Mama is there a spare blanket at home?
M : What happened?
D : Ohh, there is this old lady who lives outside our house. She looks like she belongs to a nice family, and her kids didn't want her. She just stays there all day, and has no possessions of her own. People pity her and give her food sometimes. P and I feel really bad, we even went and bought her a pair of slippers last week. I don't know what to do for her. She stays out there even when it rains at night. I don't know how she manages.
M : Buy her one then……(cut short)

By now, I could completely empathise with the old lady. Isn't her mental agony of being kicked out of home enough, that she has to go through all these hardships as well? I could picture her on cold rainy nights, sitting under a protective branch, with her meager belongings. Then it struck me, that there are millions of homeless people in our country who don't have a shelter, why then have I never felt this bad for them? Is it because they have never known a better lifestyle, and this lady probably did have a better lifestyle and a house to live in? I suddenly regretted telling all the beggars to move on. Some of them may have been genuine. So, should I empathise with every homeless person I see from now on? Should you?

Mr. Karunanidhi has promised to give a Television and rice at Rs. 2/kg to every household in Tamil Nadu. There is a catch. "Household". What about the poor people without a family or a place to live? Should they not be the primary target for rehabilitation. Come to think of, shouldn't rehabilitation and employment opportunity score over sources of entertainment? I completely agree that a TV can go a long way in awakening the masses, and also educating them, but does it not sound like petty vote bank politics, a new techno savvy variety, because saying "We will provide drinking water and electricity in all villages, and connect them with metalled roads", seems to be an unfulfilled and clichéd promise made by politicians in the 70's.

I looked up some statistics, and I summarise here.
"We also count people in India". Really, I thought you were in charge of dogs only. Source : Census India

Labels: Economics, Politics